Manatee Tiger Bay Speech

Speech at Manatee Tiger Bay, August 16, 2018

My name is Liv Coleman. I live in East Manatee & I’m an educator from a family of educators. I’m running for Florida State House to Make Florida Public Schools #1. I’ve been working hard all over Manatee & Sarasota communities to meet voters and get to know their concerns. I’ve attended community events, knocked doors, rang phones, and hosted gatherings, where I have learned so much about the things that are really important to this community — things that I know I can work on in Tallahassee. These are things that I will focus on this afternoon, but first I want to tell you a bit about myself & how I got into this race.

I am a fighter. I’m not the kind of person who just goes along to get along. I protested outside Congressman Vern Buchanan’s office nearly weekly for a year with Indivisible groups. I’ve been blocked on Twitter by sitting Manatee County Commissioners. Before running for office, my activism was personally targeted in Breitbart news by local political operatives. Maybe I’m doing something right? I even had to fight to get on this stage, which was originally restricted to my two Republican opponents, who are now down to one. But I have a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I worked as an Advanced Research Fellow at Harvard University, I’m a professor at the University of Tampa, and I have practical experience in everything from city hall governance to international affairs. Yet somehow I’m considered the underdog in this race. I know people like to think of this as a one-party town, but here’s why you should give me some of your time.

We’re facing a crisis of democracy in our country right now. We have attacks on rule of law, independent judiciary, and freedom of the press. We have questions about foreign interference in our democratic process. And we’ve had attacks on the very idea of America that I grew up with — the notion that we’re all created equal, we all have inalienable rights, and we all have the right to exercise those rights. And it’s been under assault by a growing white nationalism — a nationalism of race, religion, and country of origin, and it’s been supported, even locally, by an alt-right media network. This is not the America we’ve fought for generation after generation. We need to get back to a binding American nationalism that’s rooted in our ideals — that’s whole & encompassing and grounded in freedom, toleration, and the Constitution.

Meanwhile, they’ve forgotten the ABCs of Democracy up in Tallahassee. We need to start fighting for majority priorities, and we need to put public education first. I’m running to Make Florida Public Schools #1. That’s our best path to democratic revival and economic growth. It’s the top priority of everyone from the Florida Chamber of Commerce to the Florida Education Association. It’s time we stop sitting in the bottom 10% of schools in per pupil expenditures, and time we start standing up & investing in our own best hope for the future — our children. We need to fully fund our public schools. There’s so much more I could say about education, but…

I am also running to be a champion for our environment & quality of life. I believe that whether we moved here or were born here, we all have an obligation to leave this beautiful state even better than we found it. We have a statewide environmental catastrophe on our hands right now. We have Red Tide & toxic algae that go way beyond what we’ve seen before. We need to stop catering to special interests, so that polluters pay their fair share, and so that we fulfill our Constitutional responsibility for Florida Forever land conservation. Land conservation and water quality are critically connected because we want to conserve land to protect our precious watersheds and aquifers. We want to protect our estuaries and bays that nurture marine life. The State Legislature funded Florida Forever last year by $100 million which was great, but they need to do this every single year — not just in election years.

We also are facing severe problems with health care in our country. We have sky-high insurance premiums, high deductibles, and people can’t get the care they need at a cost they can afford. Seniors struggle to pay for medications and are left to fend for themselves. We need to start, at the very least, by expanding Medicaid in this state, so that an additional 800,000 people can get access to healthcare.

Finally, we need common-sense gun safety reforms. I can’t tell you how many parents I’ve met when I’ve gone door-knocking who tell me that they are so scared that their kids are on lock-down at school all the time. They want universal background checks on gun purchases. And they want an assault weapons ban so that weapons of war are off our streets and out of our schools.

We could go on all day about policy, but what’s also at stake is a larger vision for our state and community.

So let me tell you about some of the things I love about living in Manatee County. I love that Snooty the Manatee is a beloved not just state, but national icon, who lives on in our hearts. I love the Manatee County Fair & Hunsader Pumpkin Festival. I love our great parade traditions such as DeSoto Heritage parade. I love watching the 4th of July fireworks at the Bradenton Riverwalk. I love getting breakfast at the beach on Anna Maria Island. I love that we have a nationally award-winning Manatee Chamber of Commerce that provides so many civic and networking opportunities. I love that we have forums like Manatee Tiger Bay to hash out issues honestly & with invitation to show courage.

But there are a lot of people in this community who feel left out. Candidates up here can boast about being Florida natives, but a lot of people who moved to this beautiful state feel left out. We can boast about Manatee County’s strong conservative values, but a lot of liberals feel left out. We can boast about our traditional, close-knit, small-town feeling, but a lot of people of color feel left out. We can ask veterans and first-responders to stand and be recognized in our ceremonies, but teachers & nurses have also been shot, killed & injured in the line of duty from Sandy Hook to Parkland. And sometimes they, too, feel left out. We can boast about our money and connections and the number of boards that we serve on, but a lot of people who work two jobs to get by feel left out. And shouldn’t our community, and our civic space, and our elected offices, belong to ALL OF US?

The phenomenon of Donald Trump, and the forces he represents, aren’t really new. They’re maybe not even a surprise to some of the people who grew up here or elsewhere. But they inflame all of our worst tendencies and exclusionary trends and promote a lack of regard for truth, facts & unbiased analyses. And that is a state issue, and that is a local issue. That is, indeed, THE ISSUE.

When you tell the story of America, and Florida, and this blessed Manatee County, what kind of story do you want to tell?

I can tell you the story that I want to tell.

I want to see Manatee & Sarasota communities where people have good-paying jobs and can take care of their families and can afford to take a vacation and save for retirement. I want to see communities where seniors don’t have to fend for themselves. I want to see Manatee & Sarasota Counties be cutting-edge leaders not just in tourism, but also technology and business services and the arts and beyond. I want to see Manatee & Sarasota communities where people from all different walks of life really feel like they belong.

I see so much potential right here in Manatee & Sarasota communities. And I want to tap into that, and I want to spotlight that, and I want to help that talent grow and shine. And that starts by really investing in this community — in our public school system, in our health care, in environmental protection for our local economy, and in our infrastructure.

I’m Liv Coleman. I’m an educator from a family of educators and it is my mission to Make Florida Public Schools #1. Elect me & let’s make this more inclusive story of Manatee & Sarasota come true. Thank you.